Air spoiler for automotive vehicle and method for manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

An air spoiler for an automotive vehicle includes separate reinforcement members having a main body portion and a flange portion outwardly expanded from the main body. Preferably, a plurality of air-venting apertures are formed at the bottom surface of the main body portion of the reinforcement members so as to discharge air remaining in the reinforcement members. Further, the air spoiler includes an engagement reinforcing member which increases resin-engaged force of the reinforcement member to the air spoiler. An adhesive tape or a plastic primer is employed as the engagement reinforcing member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an air spoiler for an automotivevehicle, on which proper reinforcement members are molded integrally soas to increase attachment force of the air spoiler onto rear sidesurface of trunk lid of the automotive vehicle. Also, the presentinvention relates to a method for manufacturing an air spoiler for anautomotive vehicle by air-blowing, where proper reinforcement membersare molded integrally when air-blow molding the air spoiler.

2. Discussion of Related Art

As is well known, many kinds of air spoilers designed in harmony withspecific exterior of automotive vehicle have been developed and widelyused. The primary function of the air spoiler intended is forsuppressing the automotive vehicle, being floating due to strong aircurrent formed while running at high speed, toward road surface so as toincrease driving stability and braking force of the automotive vehicle.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a typical air spoiler denoted by referencenumeral 10 is disposed across the rear side, that is, trunk lid 14 of avehicle 12. Conventionally, a plurality of attachment members 16, eachhaving at least one securement screw 16a such as a T-bolt, are providedat the bottom surface of the air spoiler 10. The attachment members 16serve to space the air spoiler 10 from the upper surface of the trunklid 14 by a predetermined interval. The respective securement screws 16a for fitting the air spoiler 10 on the trunk lid 14 of the vehicle 12,are buried integrally in the corresponding attachment member 16 in theprocess of molding the air spoiler 10. Here, according to an exemplaryprocess for manufacturing the prior art air spoiler, raw material, forexample, thermoplastic resin from a source tank is passed through arotary feeding screw via a hopper of the spoiler molding machine. Atthis time, the raw material is heated to be melted. Then, the melted rawmaterial is passed through a head of the spoiler molding machine to bechanged in cylindrical shape and supplied, in turn, between a core moldand a cavity mold which are open at present.

Referring now to FIG. 2, while the core mold is designed to form anupper part of the air spoiler 10, the cavity mold is to form a lowerpart including the attachment member 16 of the air spoiler 10, centeringaround a mold mating surface 18.

Consequently, when the cylindrical raw material has been supplied intothe core and cavity molds via the head of the spoiler molding machine,the core and cavity molds are tightly closed. Then, an air cylinder ofthe spoiler molding machine moves forward and a plurality of blow pinsof the spoiler molding machine form a plurality of air-blowing holes onthe surface of the raw material supplied into the core and cavity moldsin order to blow air through the air-blowing holes of the raw materialfor a predetermined period.

When the air blowing is completed, the air cylinder of the spoilermolding machine moves backward to its original position. Then, the coreand cavity molds open slowly and a molded product, that is, a moldedproduct of air spoiler is taken out by means of a product taking-outmachine. The molded air spoiler is subjected to remove undesirablerefuses, such as burr. Subsequently, an end-product, a desired airspoiler including attachment members formed integrally is obtained.

In such a conventional process for manufacturing the air spoiler, therespective attachment member 16 have the securement screws 16 a such asa T-bolt buried integrally at the bottom surface of the air spoiler 10so as to attach the air spoiler 10 onto the trunk lid 14 of theautomotive vehicle 12.

When the raw material of the air spoiler is subjected to an air blowingstage, where the core mold is tightly closed with the cavity mold, inorder to manufacture the aforementioned structure of the air spoiler 10,the raw material for molding the air spoiler 10 must be uniformlyinjected into the area where the attachment members 16 are to be formedon the cavity mold along the depth direction of the attachment members16. However, in fact, during air-blowing process the raw material formolding the air spoiler 10 is injected irregularly into the attachmentmembers 16 to be formed on the cavity mold. That is, undesirably, theraw material for molding the air spoiler 10 is gradually thinly injectedinto the area where the attachment members 16 are to be formed on thecavity mold as seen from a symmetric sectional view of FIG. 2.

If the thickness of the attachment members 16 is irregularly molded,durability of the area where the securement screws 16 a are buried onthe attachment members 16 is disadvantageously deteriorated.Accordingly, when the air spoiler 10 having the weakened area on theattachment member 16 is mounted on the surface of the trunk lid 14 ofthe automotive vehicle 12, the area of the attachment members 16 wherethe securement screws 16 a are buried may be damaged or destroyedunexpectedly. Further, when the poor quality air spoiler 10 having theweakened attachment members 16 is mounted on the trunk lid 14 of theautomotive vehicle 12, the stability of the automotive vehicle 12 isalso deteriorated undesirably during running at high speed. Besides, itbrings restriction on designing the molding process of the air spoiler10.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide of an airspoiler for an automotive vehicle, on which separate reinforcementmembers are integrally molded around the area where the air spoiler ismounted onto the rear side surface of the automotive vehicle so as toassure the sufficient durability of the air spoiler when being mountedto the automotive vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method formanufacturing an air spoiler for an automotive vehicle by disposingseparate reinforcement members within an air spoiler forming mold, acavity mold for example and injecting raw material such as thermoplasticresin into the reinforcement members.

In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of apreferred embodiment of the present invention, an air spoiler to befitted on the upper surface of the trunk lid of an automotive vehicleincludes a plurality of separate reinforcement members, being disposedaround the area where the air spoiler is attached onto the trunk lid ofthe automotive vehicle, and formed integrally together with the rawmaterial injected to be an end-product.

Advantageously, each of the reinforcement members has an elliptical mainbody part and a trumpet-shaped flange part outwardly enlarged from themain body part. And, at least a securement means is buried on the bottomsurface of the main body part of the corresponding reinforcement member.Besides, an engagement portion is formed at the periphery of the flangepart of the reinforcement member.

According to the present invention, proper engagement reinforcing meansfor enhancing the engagement force of the reinforcement member to theraw material for forming the air spoiler is further provided inside themain body part of the reinforcement member. Here, preferably, anadhesive tape is employed as the engagement reinforcing means to beadhered in ring-shaped on the inside wall surface of the main body partof the reinforcement member. Alternatively, proper plastic primer may beemployed to be injected into the main body part of the reinforcementmember.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for manufacturing an air spoiler for an automotive vehicle,comprising a step of positioning a plurality of separate reinforcementmembers onto the positions of the cavity mold corresponding to the areawhere the air spoiler is fitted on the trunk lid of the automotivevehicle; a step of injecting the raw material for manufacturing the airspoiler to the inside of the reinforcement member under the discharge ofair remaining in the reinforcement member, and performing air-blowingprocess for air-blowing the raw material into the core and cavity moldsmutually closed so as to form a first stage product of the air spoiler;and, a step of performing surface finishing process for the product ofthe air spoiler so as to obtain an end-product of the air spoiler.

Preferably, at the step of air-blowing the raw material of the airspoiler, an engagement portion of the reinforcement member is integrallymolded with the raw material of the air spoiler, and the step ofdischarging air remaining in the reinforcement member is executedthrough air-venting apertures formed at the bottom surface of thereinforcement member. And at the step of air-blowing, the raw materialis injected to integrally mold the flange portion of the reinforcementmember and the air spoiler.

According to the present invention, an engagement reinforcing member isprovided so as to assure the engagement force enhanced between theinside of the reinforcement member and the raw material of the airspoiler.

Moreover, the engagement reinforcing member is an adhesive tape which isadhered in ring-shape on the inside wall surface of the main bodyportion of the reinforcement member. Alternatively, the engagementreinforcing member is a predetermined plastic primer which is injectedto the inside of the main body portion of the reinforcement member.

The above objects and features of the present invention will becomemanifest to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription of the invention with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing a conventional, prior art air spoiler mountedon the rear side of an automotive vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the structure of the air spoiler shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an air spoiler for an automotive vehicleaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4a and 4 b are views showing the preferred examples of areinforcement member molded in the air spoiler shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5a is a schematic sectional view for explaining a process formanufacturing the air spoiler according to the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5b is a schematic sectional view for explaining a process of theair spoiler according to another embodiment of the present invention;and,

FIGS. 6a to 6 d are views showing modified examples of the reinforcementmember according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIG. 3 for explaining an air spoiler for an automotivevehicle in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a plurality of reinforcement members 22 are integrally formedon the bottom side of a typical air spoiler 20. The reinforcementmembers 22 act to space the air spoiler 20 from the upper surface of thetrunk lid 14(see FIG. 1) of the automotive vehicle by a predeterminedinterval. Preferably, each reinforcement member 22 has at least onesecurement screw 22 a, buried thereinto, such as T-bolt for fixing theair spoiler 20 onto the trunk lid of the automotive vehicle.Advantageously, the reinforcement members 22 with the securement device22 a, made of thermoplastic resin, are to be molded integrally with theair spoiler 20 in the core mold and cavity mold during manufacturing theair spoiler 20.

As is typically shown in FIG. 4a, the reinforcement member 22 buried inthe air spoiler 20 has a main body portion 22 b having an elliptic shapein section. The securement screw (that is, T-bolt ) 22 a is buried atthe bottom side of the main body 22 b. Further, the reinforcement member22 has a flange portion 22 c which is outwardly expanded in trumpetshape from the main body portion 22 b. That is, the flange portion 22 cis engaged to the air spoiler 20 in the core and cavity mold whenmanufacturing. Besides, a plurality of air-venting apertures 22 d aredefined at the bottom surface of the main body portion 22 b of thereinforcement member 22. When raw material, for example, thermoplasticresin for forming the air spoiler 20 is injected into the main bodyportion 22 b of the reinforcement member 22, the air remaining in themain body portion 22 b is exhausted through the air-venting apertures 22d to prevent blowholes which may cause structural vulnerability of theair spoiler 20. In addition, a step-shaped engagement portion 22 e isformed at the periphery of the lower side of the flange portion 22 c ofthe reinforcement member 22 in order to assure the increased engagementforce of the reinforcement member 22 to the air spoiler 20. Here, theshape of reinforcement member 22 shown in FIG. 4a is designed to fitwith the central portion of the air spoiler 20, while the shape ofreinforcement member 22′ shown in FIG. 4b is suitable to be positionedat the left side of the air spoiler 20 shown in FIG.3.

Similar to the reinforcement member 22 shown in FIG. 4a, thereinforcement member 22′ includes a securement screw 22 a such as T-boltto be fixed to the trunk lid 14 (see FIG. 1) of the automotive vehicle,an elliptic main body 22 b with air-venting apertures 22 d and anoutwardly expanded flange portion 22 c with a step-shaped engagementportion 22 e.

If the reinforcement member 22′ shown in FIG. 4b is reversed in shape,it can be attached to the right side of the air spoiler 20 shown in FIG.3.

According to the present invention, the size and shape of thereinforcement members 22 and 22′ shown in FIGS. 4a and 4 b can beproperly modified in harmony with the design specific of the air spoiler20.

FIG. 5a shows a schematic cross-section view for illustrating a processfor manufacturing the air spoiler according to the present invention.Particularly, FIG. 5a illustrates a step of inserting the reinforcementmember 22 shown in FIG. 4a into a cavity mold 32, when the air spoiler20 is formed by injecting raw material into the core mold 30 and thecavity mold 30 mutually opened at present. That is, the raw material,for example, thermoplastic resin is changed in liquid state by passingthrough a rotary feeding screw from a source tank of the spoiler moldingmachine. Continuously, the liquidized raw material is changed incylindrical shape by passing through a head of the spoiler moldingmachine. Then, the cylindrical raw material is supplied between the coremold 30 and the cavity mold 32 which are mutually opened at present.

In the process for manufacturing the air spoiler for the automotivevehicle according to the present invention shown in FIG. 5a, the coremold 30 is designed to form the upper portion of the air spoiler 20,while the cavity mold 32 is designed to form the lower portion of theair spoiler 20. Here, the reinforcement members 22 and 22′ shown inFIGS. 4a and 4 b are previously disposed onto the positions of thecavity mold 32 corresponding to the area where the air spoiler 20 isfitted on the trunk lid 14 (see FIG. 1). Then, the cylindrical rawmaterial for forming the air spoiler 20 is supplied between the coremold 30 and the cavity mold 32 which are tightly closed centering arounda mold mating surface 34. And an air cylinder of the spoiler moldingmachine is advanced to make a predetermined number of air-blowing holesthrough the raw material for forming the air spoiler 20 by means of aplurality of blow pins of the air cylinder. Accordingly, an air-blowingprocess for obtaining a first stage product of the air spoiler 20 isexecuted through the air-blowing holes in the core and cavity molds 30and 32. At this time, the raw material is engaged to the engagementportion 22 e of the flange portion 22 c of the reinforcement member 22and, simultaneously, injected into the main body portion 22 b of thereinforcement member 22.

Meanwhile, when the raw material for forming the air spoiler 20 is beinginjected into the main body portion 22 b during the air-blowing stage,if any air remains in the main body portion 22 b of the reinforcementmember 22, undesired blowholes may be made at the surface of the airspoiler product, thus deteriorating the resin engaging force of thereinforcement member 22 and causing structural vulnerability of the airspoiler 20 consequently. However, according to the present invention,air remaining in the reinforcement member 22 can be exhausted throughthe air venting apertures 22 d formed at the bottom surface of the mainbody portion 22 b of the reinforcement member 22, thus securelyinjecting the raw material for forming the air spoiler 20 into theinterior of the reinforcement member 22. After the air-blowing stage,the air cylinder returns to the original position and the core andcavity molds 30 and 32 open slowly. Accordingly, the first stage product36 of the air spoiler 20 is taken out from the core and cavity molds 30and 32 and subjected to remove undesirable refuses, such as burr, thuscompleting the process for manufacturing the air spoiler according tothe present invention. In the air spoiler 20 obtained in accordance withthe process of the present invention, the reinforcement members arefirstly disposed onto the positions of the cavity mold corresponding tothe area where the air spoiler 20 is fitted to the trunk lid of theautomotive vehicle and, then, the raw material for forming the airspoiler is subsequently injected into the mutually closed core andcavity molds as well as the interior of the reinforcement members 22,thus forming the first stage air spoiler 20 having the reinforcementmembers 22 integrally. Accordingly, even if the raw material for formingthe air spoiler 20 is irregularly injected to the inside of thereinforcement member 22, the durability of reinforcement members 22 tobe fitted to the air spoiler 20 can be satisfactorily assured.

Referring to FIG. 5b showing an modified process for manufacturing anair spoiler for an automotive vehicle according to the presentinvention, an engagement reinforcing means for enhancing theresin-engaged force is provided inside the reinforcement member 22.Preferably, an example of the engagement reinforcing means is anadhesive tape 38 which is adhered in ring-shape on the inner wall of themain body portion 22 b of the reinforcement member 22. In this case,adhesive agent coated on the tape 38 is melted by the heat of the rawmaterial passed through the head of the spoiler molding machine, thusenhancing the resin-engaged force of the air spoiler 20 and thereinforcement member 22 remarkably. Alternatively, another example ofthe engagement reinforcing means is a predetermined plastic primer whichalso assures satisfactory resin-engaged force of the reinforcementmember 22 to the air spoiler 20.

FIGS. 6a to 6 d show modified examples of the engagement portion 22 eformed at the periphery of the flange portion 22 c of the reinforcementmember 22.

Referring firstly to FIG. 6a, the engagement portion 22 e is formed atthe periphery of the upside surface of the flange portion 22 c of thereinforcement member 22. In FIG. 6b, the engagement portion 22 e formedat the flange portion 22 c of the reinforcement member 22 is defined in‘’ shape.

Alternatively, referring to FIG. 6c, the engagement portion 22 e isdefined in ‘V’ shape. The engagement portion 22 e shown in FIG. 6d isdefined in ‘⊂’ shape.

Here, the above described reinforcement members 22 having variousengagement portions 22 e shown in FIGS. 6a to 6 d applied to the airspoiler assure the same effect with each other.

As described above in accordance with the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, since separate reinforcement members are integrallymolded around the area where the air spoiler is fitted to the trunk lidof the automotive vehicle, it can prevent any disadvantage may occur dueto the irregular injection in thickness of the raw material. Also, thelimitation on the design of the air spoiler can be also relaxed becausethe size and the shape of the reinforcement member can be varieddepending on the specific of the air spoiler designed.

Although the invention has been specifically described with respect toseveral embodiments, it is understood that the invention is not limitedthereto but is susceptible of various changes and modifications as knownto those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spiritof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An air spoiler fitted onto the rear side surfaceof an automotive vehicle, comprising: a plurality of reinforcement meansintegrally molded with said air spoiler, said reinforcement means beingmolded around an area where said air spoiler is fitted onto the rearside surface of the vehicle, each of said reinforcement means having amain body portion with at least one securement screw for fitting ontothe rear side surface of the vehicle and a trumpet-shaped flange portionoutwardly expanded from said main body portion, wherein an engagementportion is formed at a periphery of said flange portion of saidreinforcement means and said engagement portion being provided forintegrally molding said reinforcement means with said air spoiler.
 2. Anair spoiler fitted on the rear side of an automotive vehicle,comprising: a plurality of reinforcement means integrally molded withthe air spoiler, said reinforcement means being molded at positionswhere the air spoiler is fitted on the rear side surface of saidvehicle, said reinforcement means having an engagement portion forintegrally engaging to the air spoiler; and, engagement reinforcingmeans for enhancing resin engaged force of said reinforcement member tothe air spoiler, wherein an adhesive tape or a predetermined plasticprimer is used as said engagement reinforcing means, and wherein saidadhesive tape being adhered in ring-shape on an inner wall surface ofmain body portion of said reinforcement means, and said predeterminedplastic primer being inserted to inside of said main body portion ofsaid reinforcement means.
 3. An air spoiler fitted onto a rear sidesurface of an automotive vehicle by means of a plurality ofreinforcement members, wherein improvement comprising: a plurality ofopenings on a bottom side surface of said air spoiler; saidreinforcement member having a main body portion with at least onesecurement screw for fitting into the rear side surface of the vehicle,openings in a bottom surface of said reinforcement member, and atrumpet-shaped flange portion outwardly expanded from said main bodyportion; and wherein said flange portion being engaged to a respectiveopening of said air spoiler, so that during integral manufacturer ofsaid air spoiler and said reinforcement member thermal plastic resin maybe injected inside of said reinforcement member.
 4. The air spoiler foran automotive vehicle according to claim 3, wherein an engagementreinforcing means is further provided at the inside of saidreinforcement means for enhancing resin-engaged force of said airspoiler to said reinforcement member.
 5. An air spoiler fitted onto arear side surface of an automotive vehicle by means of a plurality ofreinforcement members, wherein improvement comprises: a plurality ofopenings on a bottom side surface of said air spoiler; saidreinforcement members having main body portion with openings in a bottomsurface thereof and with at least one securement screw for fitting ontothe rear side surface of the vehicle, a trumpet-shape flange portionoutwardly expanded from said main body portion, and an engagementportion for integrally engaging to the air spoiler; engagementreinforcement means for enhancing resin engaged force of saidreinforcement member to the air spoiler; said engagement portion beingengaged into a respective opening of said air spoiler and during themanufacture of the integrally made air spoiler and reinforcement memberthermal plastic resin being injected inside said reinforcement member.6. The air spoiler for the automotive vehicle according to claim 5,wherein each of said reinforcement means has the main body portion withat least a securement screw for fitting onto the rear side surface ofthe vehicle.